Method, apparatus, and system for controlling conference including telepresence conferencing site

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, an apparatus, and a system for controlling a conference including a telepresence conference site, and relate to the field of network communications technologies. An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling a conference site in a telepresence conference, including: receiving attribute information of a telepresence conference site sent by the telepresence conference site, where the telepresence conference site includes at least two video areas; and performing conference control according to the received attribute information of the telepresence conference site. Through application of the present invention, the conference control process of the telepresence conference site may be simplified.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/484,015, filed on May 30, 2012, which is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/CN2010/079211, filed on Nov.27, 2010. The International Patent Application claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 200910205982.7, filed on Nov. 30, 2009.The afore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of network communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a systemfor controlling a conference including a telepresence conference site.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Presently, telepresence conference site interworking mainly refers to amultimedia conference performed by multiple telepresence conferencesites controlled by an MCU (Multipoint Control Unit). The solutions forcontrolling a telepresence conference that is performed by multipletelepresence conference sites include the following: one example of thesolutions is a voice activated switching solution, where all screens ofa telepresence conference site with the loudest voice are broadcast toother conference sites, or a selected screen image of the telepresenceconference site with the loudest voice is broadcast to othertelepresence conference sites, and displayed on corresponding screens ofother telepresence conference sites; another one is a life-size imagetransmission solution.

Each telepresence conference site sends a local life-size image to othertelepresence conference sites for implementing a multimedia conference.A specific implementation process of the solution includes: when eachtelepresence conference site receives life-size images of multiple othertelepresence conference sites, first, displaying the first receivedlift-size image on a whole screen, and reducing and overplaying thesubsequently received life-size images of other telepresence conferencesites at a lower part of the screen, so that the images of the multipletelepresence conference sites are able to be seen simultaneously.

Another examples of the solutions is a panoramic image transmissionsolution, where a main camera of each telepresence conference site isadjusted to obtain a panoramic image of a conference site, and then thepanoramic image is transmitted to another remote-end telepresenceconference site, so that the panoramic images of different telepresenceconference sites are able to be seen on different screens of theremote-end telepresence conference site, and the multiple telepresenceconference sites are able to be seen simultaneously.

In the process of implementing the life-size image transmission solutionand the panoramic image transmission solution, if a conference site thatreceives a life-size image is a common conference site, the commonconference site adopts a multi-picture manner to perform a multimediaconference with a telepresence conference site; if a conference sitethat receives a panoramic image is a common conference site, the commonconference site combines streams of received images of multipleconference sites, and a combined panoramic image of the telepresenceconference sites is directly watched.

During the implementation of the present invention, the inventor findsthat the prior art has at least the following problems: During theconference control process of a multimedia conference in the prior art,attribute information of each telepresence conference site requiringcommunication needs to be pre-configured by a conference convener, andin this case, the whole conference control process is complex, and laborcosts are high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, anda system for controlling a conference including a telepresenceconference site. The embodiments of the present invention adopt thefollowing technical solutions:

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a methodfor controlling a conference including a telepresence conference site,where the method includes:

receiving attribute information of a telepresence conference site sentby the telepresence conference site, where the telepresence conferencesite includes at least two video areas; and

performing conference control according to the received attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention furtherprovides a multipoint control unit, where the unit includes:

an information receiving module, configured to receive attributeinformation of a telepresence conference site sent by the telepresenceconference site, where the telepresence conference site includes atleast two video areas; and

a conference control module, configured to perform conference controlaccording to the received attribute information of the telepresenceconference site.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention furtherprovides a conference site terminal, where the conference site terminalincludes:

an information sending module, configured to send attribute informationof a telepresence conference site, where the telepresence conferencesite includes at least two video areas; and

an information receiving module, configured to receive attributeinformation of each telepresence conference site delivered by amultipoint control unit.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention furtherprovides a system for controlling a conference including a telepresenceconference site, where the system includes:

at least one conference site terminal and at least one multipointcontrol unit, where

the conference site terminal is configured to send attribute informationof a telepresence conference site and receive attribute information ofeach telepresence conference site delivered by the multipoint controlunit, where the telepresence conference site includes at least two videoareas; and

the multipoint control unit is configured to receive the attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site sent by the telepresenceconference site, and perform conference control according to thereceived attribute information of the telepresence conference site.

According to the method, the apparatus, and the system for controlling aconference including a telepresence conference site provided by theembodiments of the present invention, a conference site mayautomatically send attribute information of the conference site to amultipoint control unit (MCU) for negotiation of a capability of theconference site, so that a process of negotiation of a capability ofeach conference site may be completed automatically, and no manualconfiguration is required, thereby saving a lot of labor costs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrate the technical solutions according to the embodiments ofthe present invention or in the prior art more clearly, the accompanyingdrawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art arebriefly introduced below. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in thefollowing descriptions merely show some of the embodiments of thepresent invention, and persons of ordinary skill in the art can obtainother drawings according to the accompanying drawings without creativeefforts.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a conference includinga telepresence conference site according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of implementation of a method for controlling aconference including a telepresence conference site according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a capability negotiation process in a methodfor controlling a conference including a telepresence conference siteaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a step of performing conference controlaccording to received attribute information of a telepresence conferencesite in a method for controlling a conference including a telepresenceconference site according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a multipoint control unitaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a conference site terminalaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for controlling aconference including a telepresence conference site according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for controlling aconference including a telepresence conference site according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a conference control systemfor a telepresence conference that is performed between a commonconference site and a telepresence conference site according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a conference control systemfor a telepresence conference that is performed between conference sitescontrolled by cascaded MCUs according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly andcompletely described in the following with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. It is obvious that the embodiments to be described are only apart rather than all of the embodiments of the present invention. Allother embodiments obtained by persons skilled in the art based on theembodiments of the present invention without creative effects shall fallwithin the protection scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a method for controlling a conference including atelepresence conference site according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, where the method includes the following steps:

101: An MCU receives attribute information of a telepresence conferencesite sent by the telepresence conference site, where the telepresenceconference site includes at least two video areas; and the attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site includes one or anycombination of the following items: a type of a conference site, videoarea information of a conference site, a stream attribute correspondingto a video area of a conference site, a conference site terminal numbercorresponding to a video area of a conference site, a video area of aconference site, a corresponding relationship between a stream and aconference site terminal, a corresponding relationship between a videoarea and a stream of a local conference site and telepresence conferencesite interworking, and a corresponding relationship between a video areaand a stream of a local conference site and common conference siteinterworking.

102: According to the received attribute information of the telepresenceconference site, the MCU performs conference control.

It should be noted that, when the conference including the telepresenceconference site needs to be performed between multipoint control units,in this step, the number of cascade channels between cascaded multipointcontrol units may be determined according to the received attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site, and a correspondingnumber of cascade channels may be established.

FIG. 2 shows an implementation process of a method for controlling aconference including a telepresence conference site according to anembodiment of the present invention, where the process includes thefollowing steps:

201: An MCU receives attribute information of a telepresence conferencesite sent by the telepresence conference site, where the telepresenceconference site includes at least two video areas.

The video areas of the conference site may be understood as that: forconference site areas of the telepresence conference site shot by atleast two cameras, a conference site area shot by each camera may becalled a video area of the conference site; the video area may perform amultimedia conference with video areas of another conference siterespectively. For example, it is assumed that the telepresenceconference site includes three conference site terminals, three screens,and three cameras. A video area 1 shot by a camera 1 may perform amultimedia conference with a corresponding remote-end conferenceterminal through a conference site terminal 1, and the screen 1 maydisplay video information of a corresponding remote-end video area; avideo area 2 shot by a camera 2 may perform a multimedia conference witha corresponding remote-end conference site terminal through a conferencesite terminal 2, and the screen 2 may display video information of acorresponding remote-end video area, and so on. The video areas of theconference site may also be understood as that: a whole telepresenceconference site is shot by using a high-resolution camera, and the areaof the whole shot conference site is divided into at least two videoareas, for example, video division may be performed on the area of thewhole conference site according to preset coordinates or an image size;and the video area may perform a multimedia conference with video areasof another conference site. For example, it is assumed that thetelepresence conference site includes three conference site terminals,one screen, and one camera. The screen may be divided into three areasaccording to the number of conference site terminals, an area shot bythe camera may also be divided into three areas according to the numberof conference site terminals, and an area 1 shot by the camera is sentto a corresponding terminal of a remote-end conference site after streamprocessing through a conference site terminal 1, and an area 2 shot bythe camera is sent to a corresponding terminal of a remote-endconference site after stream processing through a conference siteterminal 2, and so on. The screen is used to display a correspondingvideo area of the remote-end conference site in a corresponding screenarea.

It should be noted that, the received attribute information of eachconference site may be understood as that: a local MCU not only receivesconference site attribute information reported by each conference sitecontrolled by the local MCU, but also receives attribute information ofeach conference site controlled by a cascaded MCU, where the attributeinformation is sent by an MCU cascaded to the local MCU.

It should also be noted that, when the conference including thetelepresence conference site needs to be performed between multipointcontrol units, the local MCU determines the number of cascade channelsbetween cascaded multipoint control units according to the receivedattribute information of the telepresence conference site, and establisha corresponding number of cascade channels.

When the local MCU needs to perform stream interaction with the cascadedMCUs, after receiving attribute information of a conference sitecontrolled by the local MCU, the local MCU sends, through theestablished cascade channels, the attribute information of the local MCUconference site to MCUs cascaded to the local MCU, so as to performstream interaction with each of the cascaded MCUs.

202: The MCU stores the received attribute information of thetelepresence conference site as a basis of conference control, forexample, as the information that is used by an MCU to configure thepolicy for the video stream configuration on each conference site forexample, when a conference site B needs to perform a video session witha conference site A, where the conference site B is a 2-screentelepresence conference site, and the conference site A is a 4-screentelepresence conference site, the MCU may combine four images of theconference site A into two paths of streams and sends the streams to theconference site B according to conference site attribute informationsent by the conference site A and the conference site B.

It should be noted that, in a process of calling between MCUs of atelepresence conference, the local MCU may also send attributeinformation of a conference site supported by the local MCU to acascaded MCU of the local MCU; and the local MCU and the cascaded MCU ofthe local MCU exchange and record attribute information of a conferencesite of an MCU of an opposite end, as a basis of conference control.

203: According to the attribute information of each conference site, theMCU identifies each conference site. For example, the MCU identifieswhether the conference site is a common conference site or atelepresence conference site according to the attribute information, andif the conference site is a telepresence conference site, furtheridentifies a type of the telepresence conference site according to theattribute information of the telepresence conference site, as a basis ofimage interworking.

It should be noted that, when the conference including the telepresenceconference site needs to be performed between multipoint control units,the MCU may determine the number of cascade channels between thecascaded MCUs according to the attribute information of each conferencesite. For example, a multimedia video conference needs to be performedbetween an MCU 1 and an MCU 2, the largest number of video areas inattribute information of a single telepresence conference site in themultimedia video conference is 3, and in this case, 3 cascade channelsare established between the MCU 1 and the MCU 2 for the multimedia videoconference; definitely, the number of cascade channels may also bedetermined according to other information in the attribute informationof the conference site, for example, the number of cascade channels isdetermined according to the number of video areas of a telepresenceconference site on the MCU 1.

204: The MCU delivers the attribute information of each conference siteto each conference site in the telepresence conference.

It should be noted that, the each conference site in the conferenceincluding a telepresence conference site may be a telepresenceconference site and a common conference site.

FIG. 3 shows a capability negotiation process in a method forcontrolling a conference including a telepresence conference siteaccording to an embodiment of the present invention, where the processincludes the following steps:

301: A conference site terminal sends attribute information of theconference site, and performs conference site capability negotiationwith another conference site or a local MCU. Specifically, there are twosituations. One situation is that: when the conference including atelepresence conference site is a point-to-point conference, a localconference site terminal sends attribute information of the localconference site terminal itself to an opposite-end conference siteterminal; further, a conference site terminal of the opposite-endconference site performs conference site capability negotiationaccording to the received attribute information of the conference siteterminal, and returns a capability negotiation result to the localconference site terminal. The other situation is that: when theconference including a telepresence conference site is a multipointconference, the conference site terminal sends the attribute informationof the conference site terminal itself to the local MCU, and the localMCU identifies type and capability information of the conference siteaccording to the received attribute information of the conference siteand gives a capability negotiation result; and then, the MCU deliversthe capability negotiation result to the conference site terminal.

302: The conference site terminal receives the capability negotiationresult of the conference site, where the capability negotiation resultincludes at least attribute information of the conference site. Theattribute information of the telepresence conference site includes oneor any combination of the following items: a type of a conference site,video area information of a conference site, a stream attributecorresponding to a video area of a conference site, a conference siteterminal number corresponding to a video area of a conference site, avideo area of a conference site, a corresponding relationship between astream and a conference site terminal, a corresponding relationshipbetween a video area and a stream of a local conference site andtelepresence conference site interworking, and a correspondingrelationship between a video area and a stream of a local conferencesite and common conference site interworking.

303: The conference site terminal resolves the capability negotiationresult of the conference site, and specifically, resolves the attributeinformation of the conference site from the negotiation result, and thenstores the received attribute information of each telepresenceconference site.

It should be noted that, if the conference site cannot resolve thereceived capability negotiation result, the conference site may chooseto discard the capability negotiation result, and does not resolve thecapability negotiation result.

304: The conference site terminal marks each telepresence conferencesite according to the attribute information of each telepresenceconference site, and a mark is used for a user to identify an attributeand a type of each conference site, thereby facilitating an operation.

305: The conference site terminal displays the mark of each telepresenceconference site. Specifically, the conference site terminal may displaythe attribute information of the conference site, thereby facilitatingconference site control by the user.

FIG. 4 shows a step of performing conference control according toreceived attribute information of a telepresence conference site in amethod for controlling a conference including a telepresence conferencesite according to an embodiment of the present invention. The stepfurther includes the following steps:

401: A local MCU receives a conference control request message thatcarries stream information and is sent by a conference site terminal,where the stream information includes one or any combination of thefollowing items: stream information of a life-size image of thetelepresence conference site, stream information of a panoramic image ofthe telepresence conference site, stream information of a slide of thetelepresence conference site, primary stream information of a commonconference site, and auxiliary stream information of a common conferencesite.

402: According to the attribute information of the telepresenceconference site, resolve the conference control request message, wherethe conference control request message includes a telepresence screenswitching request message and/or a telepresence screen multi-picturerequest message. When it is determined that the conference controlrequest message is a telepresence screen switching request messagethrough resolution, the MCU may judge a type of the request messageaccording to content of the telepresence screen switching requestmessage and sends conference site screen information and selectedconference site information in the request message, where the conferencesite screen information includes the number of screens, screen datalength, and a screen serial number; and the selected conference siteinformation includes a serial number of a selected conference site and astream serial number of the selected conference site. For example, it isassumed that a message type of the telepresence screen switching requestmessage is selection, the number of screens is 3, the data length of ascreen 1 is X, and the screen serial number is 1; and the serial numberof the selected conference site is M, and the stream serial number ofthe selected conference site is 01, the MCU may judge, according to theattribute information of the telepresence conference site, whether theconference site of the telepresence conference site that is selected andwhose serial number is M is a conference site controlled by the localMCU, if the conference site is a conference site controlled by the localMCU, a corresponding stream is obtained according to the selectedconference site serial number M and the stream serial number 01 of theselected conference site; and if the local MCU determines that theconference site of the telepresence conference site that is selected andwhose serial number is M is a conference site controlled by a cascadedMCU of the local MCU, the corresponding stream may be obtained from thecascaded MCU through the cascade channel.

The telepresence screen switching request message includes at least oneor any combination of the following items: stream type serial numberinformation of the telepresence conference site, multi-pictureindication information of the telepresence conference site and streamtype serial number information of a common conference site. The specificcontent of the telepresence screen switching request message is shown inTable 1.

The telepresence screen multi-picture request message includes at leastone of the following items: a type of the request message, the number ofscreens, data length of each screen, a serial number of each screen, atype of a selected multi-picture of each screen, and a stream serialnumber corresponding to each sub-picture in each screen. The specificcontent of the telepresence screen multi-picture request message isshown in Table 1.

It should be noted that, after the MCU receives the telepresence screenswitching request message or the telepresence screen multi-picturerequest message, the MCU may correspondingly return a telepresencescreen switching response message or a telepresence screen multi-pictureresponse message according to a resolution result of the MCU.

The specific content of the telepresence screen switching request andresponse messages and the telepresence screen multi-picture request andresponse messages is shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Message ID Message Description Message Content XXXXXXXTelepresence screen +0 B request type (0: Selection; 1: Broadcast;switching request message 2: Call-over) +1 B the number of screens +2 Bdata length of screen 1 +3 B serial number of screen 1 +4 B selectedconference site M +5 B selected conference site T +6 B stream serialnumber of the selected conference site . . . +~B data length of screen n+~B serial number of screen n +~B selected conference site M +~Bselected conference site T +~B stream serial number of the selectedconference site XXXXXXX Telepresence screen +0 B the number of screens:switching response message +1 B data length of screen 1 +2 B result ofscreen 1: (0: success; 1: failure) +3 DW failure reason ID of screen 1 .. . +~B data length of screen n +~B result of screen n: (0: success; 1:failure) +~DW failure reason ID of screen n XXXXXXX Telepresence screen+0 B request type (0: Configuration; 1: multi-picture request Selection;2: Broadcast; 3: Call-over) message +1 B the number of screens Remarks:If a request type +2 B data length of screen 1 of the message is merely+3 B serial number of screen 1 configuration, do not switch +4 B type ofa configured multi-picture a video that is currently +6 B conferencesite M corresponding to a watched; and if the request stream ofsub-picture 1 in the multi-picture type of the message is +7 Bconference site T corresponding to a selection or broadcast or stream ofsub-picture 1 in the multi-picture call-over, it is indicated that +8 Bstream serial number of sub-picture 1 in a multi-picture needs to be themulti-picture configured first, and then a +9 B conference site Mcorresponding to a video switching operation stream of sub-picture 2 inthe multi-picture of a relevant request is . . . performed, for example,+~B data length of screen n when the request type is +~B serial numberof screen n selection of a multi-picture, +~B type of configuredmulti-picture the configured multi-picture +~B conference site Mcorresponding to a is watched on a stream of sub-picture 1 in themulti-picture corresponding screen. +~B conference site T correspondingto a stream of sub-picture 1 in the multi-picture +~B stream serialnumber of sub-picture 1 in the multi-picture +~B conference site Mcorresponding to a stream of sub-picture 2 in the multi-picture . . .XXXXXXX Telepresence screen +0 B request type (0: Selection; 1:Broadcast; multi-picture request 2: Call-over) message +1 B the numberof screens Remarks: This is an +2 B data length of screen 1 operationrequest message +3 B serial number of screen 1 of simplifying a +4 Boperated multi-picture mark (for multi-picture, where the example,particular numbers M and T, or a message does not include a group numberof a multi-picture) configuration operation. . . . +~B data length ofscreen n +~B serial number of screen n +~B operated multi-picture mark(for example, particular numbers M and T, or a group number of amulti-picture) . . . XXXXXXX Telepresence screen +0 B the number ofscreens: multi-picture response +1 B data length of screen 1 message +2B result of screen 1: (0: success; 1: failure) +3 DW failure reason IDof screen 1 . . . +~B data length of screen n +~B result of screen n:(0: success; 1: failure) +~DW failure reason ID of screen n

It should also be noted that, the telepresence screen switching requestand response messages may also be added with a multi-picture indicationmark, for example, when the M number of the selected conference site is0, it may be indicated that the conference site is a multi-picture, buta specific display situation of each sub-picture in the multi-picturecannot be indicated, so the telepresence screen multi-picture requestand response messages need to configure the display situation of eachpicture of the multi-picture.

It should also be noted that, if the telepresence screen switchingrequest and response messages are used for being sent by the local MCUto the cascaded MCU, the screen serial number may be modified to aserial number of a cascade channel; and the serial number of the cascadechannel may also be indicated through a subsequent extension field ofthe stream serial number of the selected conference site.

403: According to the conference control request message, performcorresponding stream processing. For example, when a screen having ascreen serial number of 1 corresponds to two selected conference sites,for example, a selected conference site M and a selected conference siteT, and when the stream serial numbers of the conference sites are both1, the local MCU needs to obtain a stream with the serial number 1 ofthe selected conference site M and a stream with the serial number 1 ofthe selected conference site T first; then, the local MCU combines thetwo paths of obtained streams; and finally, the local MCU sends thecombined stream to a screen with a screen serial number 1 of theconference site that sends the conference control request message.

It should be noted that, when the conference including the telepresenceconference site needs to be performed between multipoint control units,the step of performing conference control according to the receivedattribute information of the telepresence conference site furtherincludes:

according to the received attribute information of the telepresenceconference site, determining the number of cascade channels betweencascaded multipoint control units is determined, and establishing acorresponding number of cascade channels.

When the stream information carried in the conference control requestmessage is stream information of a conference site controlled by acascaded multipoint control unit, after step 402, the following stepsmay further be included:

According to the conference control request message, an image switchingrequest message carrying stream information is sent to the cascadedmultipoint control unit MCU, where the image switching request messageincludes at least a multi-channel image switching message betweencascaded multipoint control units; the multi-channel image switchingmessage between the cascaded multipoint control units includes at leastone of the following items: a serial number of the cascade channel, aserial number of a switched conference site, a stream serial number ofthe switched conference site, and channel operation type information;and the specific content of the multi-channel image switching messagebetween the cascaded multipoint control units is shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Message ID Message Description Message Content XXXXXXXMulti-channel image +0 B serial number of the cascade channel; switchingmessage +1 B switched conference site M between cascaded MCUs +2 Bswitched conference site T +3 B stream serial number of the switchedconference site +4 B channel operation type (0: Selection; 1: Broadcast;2: Call-over; 3: Screen switching)

A corresponding stream of the cascaded multipoint control unit isobtained through the cascade channel.

It should also be noted that, when the stream information carried in theconference control request message is stream information of a conferencesite controlled by a cascaded multipoint control unit, step 403 ofperforming corresponding stream processing according to the conferencecontrol request message may further include:

according to the conference control request message, resolving whetherthe obtained stream needs to be combined;

if the obtained stream needs to be combined, performing streamcombination processing, and delivering a combined stream afterprocessing to the conference site that sends the request; and

if the obtained stream does not need to be combined, delivering theobtained stream to the conference site that sends the request.

FIG. 5 shows a multipoint control unit according to an embodiment of thepresent invention, where the unit includes:

an information receiving module 501, configured to receive attributeinformation of a telepresence conference site sent by the telepresenceconference site, where the telepresence conference site includes atleast two video areas; and

a conference control module 502, configured to perform conferencecontrol according to the received attribute information of thetelepresence conference site.

The conference control module 502 may include:

an information storage submodule, configured to store the receivedattribute information of the telepresence conference site, as a basis ofconference control;

an information identification submodule, configured to identify eachconference site according to attribute information of each conferencesite; and

an information delivery submodule, configured to deliver the attributeinformation of each conference site to each conference site in atelepresence conference.

The conference control module 502 may further include:

a request message receiving submodule, configured to receive aconference control request message carrying stream information; wherethe stream information includes one or any combination of the followingitems: stream information of a life-size image of the telepresenceconference site, stream information of a panoramic image of thetelepresence conference site, stream information of a slide of thetelepresence conference site, primary stream information of a commonconference site, and auxiliary stream information of a common conferencesite;

a request message resolution submodule, configured to resolve theconference control request message according to the attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site; and

a stream processing submodule, configured to perform correspondingstream processing according to the conference control request message.

It should be noted that, when the conference including the telepresenceconference site needs to be performed between multipoint control units,the conference control module further includes:

a cascade channel establishment submodule, configured to, according tothe received attribute information of the telepresence conference site,determine the number of cascade channels between the cascaded multipointcontrol units, and establish a corresponding number of cascade channels.

It should also be noted that, when the stream information carried in theconference control request message is stream information of a conferencesite controlled by a cascaded multipoint control unit, the streamprocessing submodule may further include:

a message sending sub-submodule, configured to, according to theconference control request message, send an image switching requestmessage carrying stream information to the cascaded multipoint controlunit; and

a stream obtaining sub-submodule, configured to obtain a correspondingstream of the cascaded multipoint control unit through the cascadechannel.

It should also be noted that, the stream processing submodule mayfurther include:

a resolution sub-submodule, configured to, according to the conferencecontrol request message, resolve whether the obtained stream needs to becombined;

a stream combination processing sub-submodule, configured to, if theobtained stream needs to be combined, perform stream combinationprocessing, and deliver a combined stream after processing to theconference site that sends the request; and

a stream delivery sub-submodule, configured to, if the obtained streamdoes not need to be combined, deliver the obtained stream to theconference site that sends the request.

FIG. 6 shows a conference site terminal according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, where the conference site terminal includes:

an information sending module 601, configured to send attributeinformation of a telepresence conference site, where the telepresenceconference site includes at least two video areas; and

an information receiving module 602, configured to receive attributeinformation of each telepresence conference site delivered by amultipoint control unit.

It should be noted that, the conference site terminal may furtherinclude:

an information storage module, configured to store the receivedattribute information of each telepresence conference site;

a conference site marking module, configured to mark each telepresenceconference site according to the attribute information of eachtelepresence conference site; and

a conference site mark display module, configured to display a mark ofeach telepresence conference site.

It should also be noted that, the conference site terminal may furtherinclude:

a request message sending module, configured to send a conferencecontrol request message carrying stream information, where the streaminformation includes one or any combination of the following items:stream information of a life-size image of the telepresence conferencesite, stream information of a panoramic image of the telepresenceconference site, stream information of a slide of the telepresenceconference site, primary stream information of a common conference site,and auxiliary stream information of a common conference site; and

a stream receiving module, configured to, according to the conferencecontrol request message, receive a stream delivered by the multipointcontrol unit.

FIG. 7 shows a system for controlling a conference including atelepresence conference site according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, where the system includes at least one conference siteterminal and at least one multipoint control unit;

the conference site terminal is configured to send attribute informationof a telepresence conference site to the multipoint control unit,receive attribute information of each telepresence conference sitedelivered by the multipoint control unit, where the telepresenceconference site includes at least two video areas; and

the multipoint control unit is configured to receive the attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site sent by the telepresenceconference site, and telepresence perform conference control accordingto the received attribute information of the telepresence conferencesite.

The conference site terminal includes:

an information sending module, configured to send the attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site, where the telepresenceconference site includes at least two video areas; and

an information receiving module, configured to receive the attributeinformation of each telepresence conference site delivered by themultipoint control unit.

The multipoint control unit includes:

an information receiving module, configured to receive the attributeinformation of the telepresence conference site sent by the telepresenceconference site, where the telepresence conference site includes atleast two video areas; and

a conference control module, configured to perform conference controlaccording to the received attribute information of the telepresenceconference site.

In the following, through three specific scenarios, a system forcontrolling a conference including a telepresence conference siteaccording to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated indetail.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic structural diagram of a system for controllinga conference including a telepresence a conference sites according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the following, image switchingof a telepresence conference performed between a telepresence conferencesite 1 and telepresence conference sites 2, 3 and 4 is taken as anexample. It is assumed that the telepresence conference site 1controlled by an MCU 1 sends a telepresence screen switching requestmessage. The specific process is as follows:

801: The MCU 1 receives a telepresence screen switching request messagesent by the telepresence conference site 1, where the message is shownin the table below:

XXXXXXX Telepresence screen +0 B request type (0: Selection; 1:Broadcast; switching request message 2: Call-over) +1 B the number ofscreens +2 B data length of screen 1 +3 B serial number of screen 1 +4 Bselected conference site 2 +5 B selected conference site 3 +6 B streamserial number of selected conference site . . . +~B data length ofscreen n +~B serial number of screen n +~B selected conference site 4+~B stream serial number of selected conference site

802: The MCU 1 obtains a corresponding stream according to streaminformation in the received telepresence screen switching requestmessage, where the process of obtaining the corresponding stream is asfollows:

1) The MCU 1 determines that the remote conference site 2 is atelepresence conference site controlled by the MCU 1, and thetelepresence conference sites 3 and 4 are telepresence conference sitescontrolled by an MCU 2 cascaded to the MCU 1;

2) The MCU 1 obtains a stream of the remote conference site 2; and

3) The MCU 1 obtains streams of the remote conference sites 3 and 4,where the process of obtaining the streams of the remote conferencesites 3 and 4 is as follows: The MCU 1 sends a telepresence screenswitching request message carrying stream information of thetelepresence conference sites 3 and 4 to the MCU 2; and after receivingthe telepresence screen switching request message, the MCU 2 sendscorresponding streams of the telepresence conference sites 3 and 4 tothe MCU 1 according to the stream information of the telepresenceconference sites 3 and 4 carried in the telepresence screen switchingrequest message.

803: The MCU 1 performs conference control processing on the streams ofthe telepresence conference sites 2, 3 and 4 according to thetelepresence screen switching request message sent by the telepresenceconference site 1, so as to implement a remote conference between thetelepresence conference site 1 and the telepresence conference sites 2,3 and 4.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a conference controlsystem for a telepresence conference that is performed between a commonconference site and a telepresence conference site according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the following, image switchingof a telepresence conference performed between a common conference siteand telepresence conference sites 1, 2 and 3 is taken as an example. Itis assumed that the common conference site controlled by an MCU 2 sendsa telepresence screen multi-picture request message. The specificprocess is as follows:

901: The MCU 2 receives a telepresence screen multi-picture requestmessage sent by the common conference site, where the message is shownin the table below:

Message ID Message Description Message Content XXXXXXX Telepresencescreen +0 B request type (0: Selection; 1: Broadcast; 2: multi-picturerequest Call-over) message +1 B the number of screens +2 B data lengthof screen 1 +3 B serial number of screen 1 +4 B type of a selectedmulti-picture +6 B M number of sub-picture 1 in the multi-picture +7 B Tnumber of sub-picture 1 in the multi-picture +8 B stream serial numberof sub-picture 1 in the multi-picture +9 B M number of sub-picture 2 inthe multi-picture . . . +~B data length of screen n +~B serial number ofscreen n +~ B type of a selected multi-picture +~ B M number ofsub-picture 1 in the multi-picture +~ B T number of sub-picture 1 in themulti-picture +~ B stream serial number of sub-picture 1 in themulti-picture +~ B M number of sub-picture 2 in the multi-picture . . .

902: The MCU 2 obtains a corresponding stream according to streaminformation in the received telepresence screen multi-picture requestmessage, where the process of obtaining the corresponding stream is asfollows:

1) The MCU 2 determines that the remote conference site 3 is atelepresence conference site controlled by the MCU 2, and thetelepresence conference sites 1 and 2 are telepresence conference sitescontrolled by an MCU 1 cascaded to the MCU 2;

2) The MCU 2 obtains a stream of the remote conference site 3; and

3) The MCU 2 obtains streams of the remote conference sites 1 and 2,where the process of obtaining the streams of the remote conferencesites 1 and 2 is as follows: The MCU 2 sends a telepresence screenmulti-picture request message carrying stream information of thetelepresence conference sites 1 and 2 to the MCU 1; and after receivingthe telepresence screen multi-picture request message, the MCU 1 sendscorresponding streams of the telepresence conference sites 1 and 2 tothe MCU 2 according to the stream information of the telepresenceconference sites 1 and 2 carried in the telepresence screenmulti-picture request message.

903: The MCU 2 performs processing on the streams of the telepresenceconference sites 1, 2 and 3 according to the telepresence screenmulti-picture request message sent by the common conference site, so asto implement a remote conference between the common conference site andthe telepresence conference sites 1, 2 and 3.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic structural diagram of a conference controlsystem for a telepresence conference that is performed betweenconference sites controlled by cascaded MCUs. In the following, imageswitching of a telepresence conference performed between a telepresenceconference site 11 and telepresence conference sites 12 and 21 and acommon conference site 22 that are in multi-level cascade is taken as anexample. It is assumed that the telepresence conference site 11controlled by an MCU 1 sends a multi-channel image switching messagebetween the cascaded MCUs. The specific process is as follows:

The MCU 1 receives the multi-channel image switching message between thecascaded MCUs sent by the telepresence conference site 11, where themessage is shown in the table below.

Message ID Message Description Message Content XXXXXXX Multi-channelimage +0 B channel number; switching message +1 B switched conferencesite M between cascaded MCUs +2 B switched conference site T +3 B streamserial number of a switched conference site +4 B operation type (0:Selection; 1: Broadcast; 2: Call-over; 3: Screen switching)

1002: MCU 1 obtains a corresponding stream according to streaminformation in the received multi-channel image switching messagebetween the cascaded MCUs, where the process of obtaining thecorresponding stream is as follows:

1) The MCU 1 determines that the remote conference site 12 is atelepresence conference site controlled by the MCU 1, and thetelepresence conference site 21 and the common conference site 22 areconference sites controlled by an MCU 2, which the MCU 2 and the MCU 1are connected to an MCU 0;

2) The MCU 1 obtains a stream of the remote conference site 12; and

3) The MCU 1 obtains streams of the remote conference site 21 and thecommon conference site 22, where the process of obtaining the streams ofthe remote conference site 21 and the common conference site 22 is asfollows: The MCU 1 sends a multi-channel image switching messagecarrying stream information of the telepresence conference site 21 andthe common conference site 22 to the MCU 0, the MCU 0 sends themulti-channel image switching message to the MCU 2, and after receivingthe multi-channel image switching message, the MCU 2 sends correspondingstreams of the telepresence conference site 21 and the common conferencesite 22 to the MCU 1 through the MCU 0 according to the streaminformation of the telepresence conference site 21 and the commonconference site 22 carried in the multi-channel image switching message.

1003: The MCU 1 performs processing on the streams of the telepresenceconference sites 12 and 21 and the common conference site 22 accordingto the multi-channel image switching message sent by the telepresenceconference site 11, so as to implement a remote conference between thetelepresence conference site 11 and the telepresence conference sites 12and 21 and the common conference site 22.

It should be noted that, the scenarios that a stream of conference sitesof each cascaded MCU is transmitted through a cascade channel are mainlyclassified into two types: One type is that each cascade channel iscapable of transmitting only a path of stream of a different conferencesite; and the other type is that each cascade channel is capable oftransmitting multiple paths of stream of the same conference site.

According to the method, the apparatus, and the system for controlling aconference including a telepresence conference site according to theembodiments of the present invention, in one aspect, a conference sitemay automatically send attribute information of the conference site toan MCU for negotiation of a capability of the conference site, so thatnegotiation of a capability of each conference site may be completedautomatically, and no manual configuration is required, thereby saving alot of labor costs, and moreover, a local MCU may also deliver receivedattribute information of all conference sites to an conference sitecontrolled by the local MCU, so that the conference site may flexiblyperform conference site control. In another aspect, in the embodimentsof the present invention, a corresponding stream may be obtainedaccording to stream information in a conference control request messageof each conference site in the telepresence conference where the streammay be a local stream, and may also be a cascaded MCU stream, and thenconference control processing is performed on the stream according tothe conference control request message. In this way, not only amultimedia conference may be performed between telepresence conferencesites under one MCU, but also a multimedia conference may be performedbetween telepresence conference sites under multiple cascaded MCUs. Inanother aspect, in the embodiments of the present invention, streaminteraction of a panoramic image and a slide may be performed throughtelepresence screen switching request and response messages, and if acommon conference site exists, interaction of a primary stream and anauxiliary stream may also be performed through telepresence screenswitching request and response messages.

Through the preceding descriptions of the embodiments, it is apparent tothose skilled in the art that, the present invention may be accomplishedby software together with a necessary universal hardware platform, anddefinitely may also be completely accomplished by hardware. In mostcases, the former is a better implementation manner. Therefore, all or apart of the preceding technical solutions of the present invention thatmakes contributions to the prior art can be substantially embodied in aform of a software product. The computer software product may be storedin a computer readable storage medium and contains several instructionsto instruct a computer equipment (for example, a personal computer, aserver, or a network equipment) to perform the method described in eachof the embodiments of the present invention.

The preceding descriptions are merely exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, but not intended to limit the present invention. Anymodification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made withoutdeparting from the spirit and principle of the present invention shallfall within the protection scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling a conference including atelepresence conference site and a plurality of additional conferencesites, the method comprising: receiving attribute information of thetelepresence conference site sent by the telepresence conference site,wherein the telepresence conference site comprises at least two videoareas; and performing conference control according to the receivedattribute information of the telepresence conference site; wherein theattribute information of the telepresence conference site comprises oneor any combination of the following items: a type of a conference site,video area information of the conference site, a stream attributecorresponding to a video area of the conference site, a conference siteterminal number corresponding to the video area of the conference site,the video area of the conference site, a corresponding relationshipbetween a stream and a conference site terminal, a correspondingrelationship between the video area and a stream of the conference siteand telepresence conference site interworking, and a correspondingrelationship between the video area and the stream of the localconference site and common conference site interworking; wherein whenthe conference including the telepresence conference site needs to beperformed between multipoint control units, the performing theconference control further comprises: according to the receivedattribute information of the telepresence conference site, determining anumber of cascade channels between cascaded multipoint control units;and establishing the determined number of the cascade channels.
 2. Themethod for controlling the conference including the telepresenceconference site according to claim 1, wherein the performing theconference control comprises: storing the received attribute informationof the telepresence conference site, as a basis of the conferencecontrol.
 3. The method for controlling the conference including thetelepresence conference site according to claim 1, wherein theperforming the conference control comprises: identifying each of theconference sites according to the attribute information of each of theconference sites.
 4. The method for controlling the conference includingthe telepresence conference site according to claim 1, wherein theperforming the conference control comprises: delivering the attributeinformation of each of the plurality of additional conference sites tothe telepresence conference site.
 5. The method for controlling theconference including the telepresence conference site according to claim1, wherein when the stream information carried in the conference controlrequest message is the stream information of the conference sitecontrolled by one of the cascaded multipoint control units, theperforming the corresponding stream processing according to theconference control request message comprises: according to theconference control request message, sending an image switching requestmessage carrying the stream information to the cascaded multipointcontrol unit; and obtaining a corresponding stream of the cascadedmultipoint control unit through one of the cascade channels.
 6. Themethod for controlling the conference including the telepresenceconference site according to claim 5, wherein the step of performing thecorresponding stream processing according to the conference controlrequest message further comprises: according to the conference controlrequest message, resolving whether the obtained stream needs to becombined; if the obtained stream needs to be combined, performing streamcombination processing and delivering a combined stream after processingto the conference site that sent the request; and if the obtained streamdoes not need to be combined, delivering the obtained stream to theconference site that sent the request.
 7. The method for controlling theconference including the telepresence conference site according to claim6, wherein the image switching request message comprises at least amulti-channel image switching message between the cascaded multipointcontrol units, and the multi-channel image switching message between thecascaded multipoint control units comprises at least one of thefollowing items: a serial number of the cascade channel, a serial numberof a switched conference site, a stream serial number of the switchedconference site, and channel operation type information.
 8. A multipointcontrol apparatus, comprising a processor and a non-transitoryprocessor-readable medium having processor-executable instructionsstored thereon, the processor-executable instructions including aplurality of modules, the modules including: an information receivingmodule, configured to receive attribute information of a telepresenceconference site sent by the telepresence conference site, wherein thefirst telepresence conference site comprises at least two video areas;and a conference control module, configured to perform conferencecontrol according to the received attribute information of thetelepresence conference site; wherein the attribute information of thetelepresence conference site comprises one or any combination of thefollowing items: a type of a conference site, video area information ofthe conference site, a stream attribute corresponding to a video area ofthe conference site, a conference site terminal number corresponding tothe video area of the conference site, the video area of the conferencesite, a corresponding relationship between a stream and a conferencesite terminal, a corresponding relationship between the video area and astream of the conference site and telepresence conference siteinterworking, and a corresponding relationship between the video areaand the stream of the local conference site and common conference siteinterworking; wherein the conference control module further comprises: acascade channel establishment submodule, configured to, according to thereceived attribute information of the telepresence conference site,determine a number of cascade channels between cascaded multipointcontrol units, and establish the number of the cascade channels, when aconference including the telepresence conference site needs to beperformed between multipoint control units.
 9. The multipoint controlunit according to claim 8, wherein the conference control modulecomprises: an information storage submodule, configured to store thereceived attribute information of the telepresence conference site, as abasis of the conference control; and an information identificationsubmodule, configured to identify each of the conference sites accordingto the attribute information of each of the conference sites.
 10. Themultipoint control unit according to claim 8, wherein the conferencecontrol module comprises: a request message receiving submodule,configured to receive a conference control request message carryingstream information; wherein the stream information comprises one or anycombination of the following items: stream information of a life-sizeimage of the telepresence conference site, stream information of apanoramic image of the telepresence conference site, stream informationof a slide of the telepresence conference site, primary streaminformation of a common conference site, and auxiliary streaminformation of the common conference site; a request message resolutionsubmodule, configured to resolve the conference control request messageaccording to the attribute information of the first telepresenceconference site; and a stream processing submodule, configured toperform corresponding stream processing according to the conferencecontrol request message.
 11. The multipoint control unit according toclaim 8, wherein the stream processing submodule comprises: a messagesending sub-submodule, and a stream obtaining sub-submodule, whereinwhen the stream information carried in the conference control requestmessage is the stream information of a conference site controlled by oneof the cascaded multipoint control units, the message sendingsub-submodule is configured to, according to the conference controlrequest message, send an image switching request message carrying thestream information to the cascaded multipoint control unit; and thestream obtaining sub-submodule is configured to obtain a correspondingstream of the cascaded multipoint control unit through the cascadechannel.
 12. The multipoint control unit according to claim 11, whereinthe stream processing submodule further comprises: a resolutionsub-submodule, configured to, according to the conference controlrequest message, resolve whether the obtained stream needs to becombined; a stream combination processing sub-submodule, configured to,if the obtained stream needs to be combined, perform stream combinationprocessing, and deliver a combined stream after processing to theconference site that sends the conference control request message; and astream delivery sub-submodule, configured to, if the obtained streamdoes not need to be combined, deliver the obtained stream to theconference site that sends the conference control request message.
 13. Asystem for controlling a conference including a telepresence conferencesite having at least two video areas, comprising at least one conferencesite terminal and at least one multipoint control unit, wherein theconference site terminal is configured to send attribute information ofthe telepresence conference site to the at least one multipoint controlunit; and the at least one multipoint control unit is configured toreceive the attribute information of the telepresence conference sitesent by the telepresence conference site, and perform conference controlaccording to the received attribute information of the telepresenceconference site; wherein when the conference including the telepresenceconference site needs to be performed between multipoint control units,the at least one multipoint control unit is further configured todetermine a number of cascade channels between cascaded multipointcontrol units according to the received attribute information of thetelepresence conference site, establish the determined number of thecascade channels.
 14. A method for controlling a conference including atelepresence conference site and a plurality of additional conferencesites, the method comprising: receiving attribute information of thetelepresence conference site sent by the telepresence conference site,wherein the telepresence conference site comprises at least two videoareas; and performing conference control according to the receivedattribute information of the telepresence conference site; wherein theattribute information of the telepresence conference site comprises oneor any combination of the following items: a type of a conference site,video area information of the conference site, a stream attributecorresponding to a video area of the conference site, a conference siteterminal number corresponding to the video area of the conference site,the video area of the conference site, a corresponding relationshipbetween a stream and a conference site terminal, a correspondingrelationship between the video area and a stream of the conference siteand telepresence conference site interworking, and a correspondingrelationship between the video area and the stream of the localconference site and common conference site interworking; wherein theperforming the conference control comprises: receiving a conferencecontrol request message carrying stream information, wherein the streaminformation comprises one or any combination of the following items:stream information of a life-size image of the telepresence conferencesite, stream information of a panoramic image of the telepresenceconference site, stream information of a slide of the telepresenceconference site, primary stream information of a common conference site,and auxiliary stream information of the common conference site;resolving the conference control request message according to theattribute information of the telepresence conference site; andperforming corresponding stream processing according to the conferencecontrol request message; wherein the conference control request messagecomprises: a telepresence screen multi-picture request message; whereinthe telepresence screen multi-picture request message comprises a typeof a selected multi-picture of each screen and a stream serial numbercorresponding to each sub-picture in each screen.